This invention relates to a combination apparatus having a scanning microscope therein. More particularly, the invention relates to a combination apparatus comprising a scanning electron microscope (SEM); observing and measuring equipment such as a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and an atomic force microscope (AFM); and processing equipment such as a chemical vapor deposition device (CVD), focused ion beam device (FIB) and a dry etching device.
Because near-field microscopes such as the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) are intrinsically not fit for wide-field observation, this type of microscope is commonly combined with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) so as to provide a wider range of field choices.
The observing and measuring equipment (STM, etc.) is combined with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) by illustratively incorporating the STM function section into the sample chamber of a large SEM that uses an electromagnetic lens arrangement to focus the electron beam. One such combination apparatus is disclosed in "Review of Scientific Instruments," Vol. 57, No. 2 (1986), pp. 221-224.
Meanwhile, the processing equipment (CVD, FIB, dry etching device, etc.) is combined with the scanning electron microscope in order to monitor samples throughout the processing thereof.
The prior art combination of the processing equipment with the scanning electron microscope is implemented illustratively as follows. A large scanning electron microscope is installed alongside processing equipment, the microscope utilizing an electromagnetic lens arrangement to focus the electron beam. The sample chamber of the processing equipment is connected via a connecting passage to that of the scanning electron microscope. For observation of a sample by microscope, the sample is relocated through the connecting passage from the sample chamber of the working equipment to that of the microscope. One such implementation is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-256554.
The above-noted prior art involves the use of a very large scanning electron microscope. Because of its size, the scanning electron microscope, when combined with other equipment (observing and measuring instruments such as STM or processing equipment such as CVD, FIB or dry etching device), has posed a problem: the combination tends to constitute an enormous apparatus.
There is another problem in combining the scanning electron microscope with the observing and measuring equipment or with the processing equipment as per the prior art. The scanning electron microscope additionally needs its own evacuation system besides that for the equipment it combines with.
A further problem is encountered when the scanning electron microscope is conventionally combined with the observing and measuring equipment. Because the scanning electron microscope is fixedly mounted, it requires its own sample moving mechanism for scanning microscopic observation in addition to the comparable mechanism on the side of the observing and measuring equipment. A still further problem is experienced with the conventional combination of the scanning electron microscope with the processing equipment. That is, a sample moving mechanism is needed to relocate the sample from the sample chamber of the processing equipment to that of the microscope. The mechanisms for moving the sample and the operations for accomplishing such sample movements are complex and troublesome.